Anaximanes Ravenhurst
| Name | Anaximanes Ravenhurst |
| Race | Human |
| Type | Normal |
| Faction | None |
| Premiere | The Anax: Call of the Cursed One |
| Relative(s) | Theodore Ravenhurst, Deborah Ravenhurst |
Contents
The Anax
"A true love story has no ending."
Biography
The Anax: Call of the Cursed One
As seen in the novel, The Anax: Call of the Cursed One, Anaximanes Ravenhurst’s strange, sad tale began in 1824 when he was born to his parents, Theodore Ravenhurst and Deborah Ravenhurst. Both his parents were renowned archaeologists, and with Theodore’s physical strength, and Debra’s keen intellect, the pair unraveled countless ancient mysteries and fought many different forces of evil. When they had their son, they named him Anaximanes. Either he was named after an Ionian philosopher, or as he came to find, his name might mean ‘King of the spirits of the dead’. However, he hardly remembers them, for his parents died when he was only eight years old, under mysterious circumstances, and somehow, only the boy remained spared.
Anaximanes inherited all the land and property south of Wakefield, and grew up alone. He befriended a local Ruska Roma gypsy camp and gave them permission to remain on his land. This caused upset in the town of Wakefield, especially so from the local reverend, Roger Addams. Later, a witch named Eleanora Blackwood moved into an abandoned stone tower just west of his land, and she tried, many times, to seduce him, but failed because of a seemingly inherent ability to nullify or dampen magic. Later, Eleanora's plans were further thwarted when Anaximanes met a woman that he believed to be his soul mate, Eliza Day. She had moved to Wakefield in order to be the schoolmistress and he fell in love with her at first sight. The pair became inseparable, and under the boughs of what would become the Twisted Tree, the pair first kissed and became engaged to be married.
This incensed the witch who had plotted for years to acquire Ravenhurst Manor. She set about dark work, even employing a vampire lord named Ivor. On the day of the wedding, Eliza fell ill, and before the sun rose the next day- she died. For all of his life, Anaximanes had struggled with deep depression and this turn of events sent him reeling. Within his mind, Mr. Ravenhurst became almost mad with grief, and turned into a total recluse, obsessively visiting Eliza’s grave and the tree, every day without fail. At night, his dreams revolved around Eleanora Blackwood, for she worked spells through the Dreamlands and over time, insanity came creeping through his thoughts. His butler and best friend, Brone Lorcan, attempted to break the melancholy by insisting that Mr. Ravenhurst visit the town of Wakefield and buy sweet treats for the gypsy children- a happy proclivity he had done in the past. Doing so, he discovered that in his absence of social life, the town and gypsies had branded him a monster, a boogeyman, called 'The Anax'. This caused him to become even more reclusive. Brone could no longer stand it, and on Halloween of 1857, he decided to depart Ravenhurst Manor, assuming that Anaximanes would never recover from the loss of Eliza Day.
However, Brone witnessed a magically generated dark image of Eleanora Blackwood. She confronted Mr. Ravenhurst and demanded that he come face her in an abandoned building located in Wakefield. Anax realized that he, himself, had poisoned Eliza Day, and, thus, a self-loathing bloomed inside his heart, for he shared blame with the witch! Thus, longing for revenge or death, Mr. Ravenhurst did face her in Wakefield- and killed Eleanora. However, witnesses alerted authorities, and Anax fled the city, retreating to Eliza’s grave. There, a mob led by Roger Addams, took Anax to the forest, and to the very tree to which, under, he had proposed to Eliza. There, they hanged him until dead. However, moments later, his spirit returned to the Physical World as the boogeyman known as The Anax!
Appearance
Anaximanes Ravenhurst is a stocky, broad-shouldered man with blue eyes. He stands at six feet three inches tall and is generally well-mannered. He always wears the same black suit and tie, and is always seen wearing a black bowler hat upon his head.
Abilities
Anaximanes Ravenhurst carries a pocket watch that was enchanted by a magical spell woven by his mother. This dampens magical effects on whoever holds the watch.
Equipment
Anaximanes Ravenhurst wears a black suit and tie and a bowler hat.
Notes and Trivia
The pocket watch that protected Anaximanes Ravenhurst against the magical spells and curses of Eleanora Blackwood, was given to Brone Lorcan. This is part of why, in the novel Desideratum: Blood Bonds, Brone has managed to remain a nosferatu for so long as well as able to skirt-the-line with Ivor's orders.
Anaximanes Ravenhurst and Brone Lorcan were both victims of Eleanora Blackwood, but how they reacted to their corruptive transformations were the opposite. The Anax relished his and used his new darkness without regard, but Brone refused to become a monster.
With all of Anax’s knowledge and being of Scottish descent, he knew of Unspoken Water, water believed to have healing properties when collected "from under a bridge, over which the living pass and the dead are carried, brought in the dawn or twilight to the house of a sick person, without the bearer's speaking, either in going or returning", yet did not use it that night with Eliza. In the emotional turmoil of the night, and not believing in magic, only science, the notion of collecting water from under the bridge between the church and Wakefield, never crossed his mind. In truth, it would have cured Eliza instantly.
